It had been claimed that the State and Federal Governments remained enthusiastic about the bid but were refusing to commit themselves to pledging funding for the massive upgrading that would be needed to satisfy FIFA's  stringent requirements.

All of the 11 nations who are campaigning to host the events must submit a ''bid agreement'' to FIFA on December 11, outlining plans for at least 12 venues that meet the global governing body's criteria for a World Cup venue.

The full bid is due to be submitted next May.
 

But it has been claimed that FFA is struggling to come up with 12 venues that each have a capacity of at least 40,000 and also meet requirements for corporate, media and broadcast facilities.

The FFA remains hopeful that funding can be arranged but concerns are growing that not much time is left.

Ben Buckley, the chief executive of FFA, claimed there was plenty of time to agree the funding for stadiums, pointing to the FIFA timeline which stipulates the final choice of stadiums and infrastructure only has to be submitted in May.

He said: "We've been working with Governments for some time, and we're absolutely confident that we're on track to meet every timeline required as part of the bidding process.
 

"We have a timeline to meet at the end of this year, which has been known to us and all relevant Government agencies all year.
 

"Working out which level of Government pays for what is a dialogue Governments have with each other every day of the week - whether it be health, aged care, education, or stadium infrastructure.

"Importantly, no expenditure is required until we are successful.''
 

But the bid suffered a blow earlier this week when Melbourne's new A$268 (£142 million) rectangular stadium (pictured)- expected to be a host venue - was ruled out of the running because of a design bungle.

The new stadium, home to the Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Storm and possibly the city's new A-League team from next season, had been expected to give Victoria a strong position in the World Cup bid alongside the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which is vying to host the opening game and final if Australia's bid is successful.

Built with a capacity of 32,000, the new stadium was supposedly ''future-proofed'' so that the foundations could support an increase to 40,000 and make the facility FIFA compliant.
 

But while the foundations were strengthened, the distinctive bubble roof was not designed to be adaptable.

Feasibility studies have now shown that increasing the crowd capacity would require the entire roof to be rebuilt, a process that would prove more costly than building a new stadium from scratch.

That leaves the the MCG, which hosted the 1956 Olympics and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, as a World Cup venue in Melbourne with the possibility of also using Etihad Stadium.

New rectangular stadiums would need to be built in Townsville and Canberra, while Newcastle's existing stadium would be upgraded, as would the Sydney Football Stadium and ANZ Stadium.

On the Gold Coast, rectangular Skilled Park is too small and cannot be enlarged, meaning the AFL's new Carrara Stadium would be the venue used.

Oval grounds would also be the best-case scenario in Adelaide and Perth, where redevelopments of the Adelaide Oval and Subiaco have emerged as the most likely venues to host World Cup matches but still require funding commitments from state or federal governments.

The bid team is believed to be hopeful that the Federal Government might step in and either help fund the stadiums or convince State Governments to pour money in.

But that outcome is yet to happen and time is running out, officials fear.
 

Kevin Rudd Government's has already committed A$45.6 million (£24.1 million) to fund the bid process and Sports Minister Kate Ellis promised they remained fully behind the project. 

She said: "The Australian Government is committed to putting forward the best possible World Cup bid.

"All Governments agreed that they would work cooperatively with FFA to support the World Cup bid and this position has not changed.
 

"The Australian Government continues to work with FFA and states and territories in partnership to build the strongest bid possible.''

Australia are bidding for the 2018 World Cup, which is expected to be awarded to one of the European candidates, with England the favourites.

But they are among those tipped to win the 2022 tournament, which will be awarded at the same time as the 2018 event by FIFA at a meeting on December 2, 2010.

The other biders are Indonesia Japan, Mexico, Russia, the United States and joint bids from Spain and Portugal and Holland and Belgium.

Qatar and South Korea are bidding for just the 2022 World Cup.

Australia are the only bidders for the 2015 Asian Cup and need a minimum of four venues for the event, which will be held in Eastern cities for two weeks in January.


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